I once worked with a small business who wanted to make their website accessible to as many users as possible. The business owner approached me directly, after reading my book and this blog, to help her reach more customers. She was an ideal client, well-informed and attacking web accessibility both because it made business sense
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is a law aimed at making the Canadian province of Ontario fully accessible by 2025. The act is a framework for standards to make the Canadian province accessible to all.
The Act wants to create an Ontario of full participation. This means that every Ontario citizen has the
May 15th is this year’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day. A day about promoting web accessibility to people who’ve never heard of it before. It’s a day when people like me do everything we can to spread the good word of web accessibility.
Here’s the introduction the official website gives:
The target audience of GAAD is the design
Reduce the risk of all input errors
All users make mistakes when inputting data (for example, into forms and checkouts). Aim to prevent these errors occurring, but make it easy for users to correct errors as they occur.
Users can make costly mistakes if they don’t fully understand the implications of their actions or can’t rectify their
Your website has detailed help and instructions
Your users have a range of abilities. Some will instinctively know how to use your website and others will struggle. You can help your users get the most from your website by offering help wherever you can. This is especially relevant to forms, where your users need to input
Don’t change elements on your website until users ask
Some of your users find automatic changes hard to deal with. Unexpected actions can interrupt their concentration and prevent them from reaching their goals. Help your users by keeping them in control and avoiding elements on your website that change automatically.
What to do
To pass this guideline, you
Explain any words where meaning is ambiguous without pronunciation
You can help your users by paying attention to words where the meaning isn’t clear unless the word is pronounced (or spoken). Words like these can make it hard for your users to understand your content, especially if they use a screen reader which could pronounce the
Users with nine years of school can read your content
All of your users need to read your website. That means you need to write with a range of people in mind, from your College Professor to someone straight out of school.
The key is to write as simply as you can, in clear and plain language.
What
Explain any abbreviations
Some of your users need help understanding your content. Using abbreviations can cause confusion and prevent your users from understanding your website. Avoid using abbreviations where you can and explain them when you need to use them.
Abbreviations (like Dr for Doctor) also include acronyms (NATO) and initialisms (FBI).
What to do
Explain any strange words
Some of your users will find it hard to read unusual uses of words on your website. Things like figurative language, idioms and jargon can be difficult to process. Avoid using unusual words where you can and explain the use of words when you need to use them.
What to do
